Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, brands have had to reconsider their approach to message testing and consumer feedback. Marketers must adapt how they test messages and test methods to adapt to the changing lifestyle of consumers.
The pandemic has contributed to some changes that brands have made to their operations, but some of these changes will permanently become part of best practices. A growing number of marketers have realized that digital message testing tools have significantly improved their processes and are here to stay.
It is essential to understand the limitations of traditional methods such as in-person focus groups and written surveys before exploring technologies that can help improve the marketing process.
What are the shortcomings of traditional message testing?
The pandemic impacted the ability to provide in-person feedback. It was no longer possible for insights teams to interact with consumers face-to-face. In addition, focus groups often posed challenges to research teams they had not anticipated. For example, in-person testing is usually limited to small, localized geographic regions, limiting brands’ access to potentially large numbers of in-person respondents.
Marketers can also ask for feedback with written surveys, although this method also has its limitations. Surveys conducted at scale can produce superficial results with no depth. Written feedback is limited, especially when compare to verbal feedback, even when the survey goes beyond traditional ranked and multiple-choice responses.
Survey participants may find survey questions too restricting, which prevents them from organically explaining their responses. A written response may often remove important emotional context from the discussion. A written response cannot contain a participant’s body language and visceral reactions.
How Technology Helps Fill the Gap?
A marketing team’s approach is likely to be more meaningful when it leverages technology that enables real-time, authentic reactions to products and messaging – something that does not happen with traditional message testing methodologies.
For authentic feedback, it is essential to understand the consumer’s habits, lifestyle, and values. Engaging consumers on their schedules and in their homes means receiving feedback on the customer’s terms. Marketers can gain an unprecedented view into consumers’ lives by using mobile-based video-based research platforms.
Marketers are no longer constrained by geography, and these digital platforms provide more diverse and authentic feedback than ever before. Marketers should prioritize verbal and visual feedback whenever possible instead of relying on written surveys or software to assist in the process.
The right technology is equally important for marketers to pull together the insights collected by these cutting-edge platforms. Using facial coding as part of a marketing campaign can be an excellent idea for businesses. For example, consumers can read out loud messages in recorded videos, sharing their thoughts and body language in real-time. With capable technology, participants can then register their sentiments and emotions by evaluating facial expressions and tones and logging and storing their responses for later use.
A good platform allows marketers to note specific terms and their sentiments and their responses to particular questions. As a result, marketers can identify consumers most meaningful moments while interacting and talking about their brand, which will help when developing a strategy.
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